1/31/10

Smelling the Roses


up early
Today was awesome.  A day devoted singularly to stopping and smelling the roses.  It has been so very long since I've gotten a Saturday off.  And so long since I've seen the mountains. . .  Getting up (reasonably) early is not one of my favorite things to do, I will admit  but I wanted to have lots of time. . .  And there is just something awesome to get up, get into a warm car,  pumping
loud (awesome) tunes

out the speakers, and driving.  Not to work,  but to one of the most beautiful locations on earth! 
And while a

road trip

is great, and the mountains are better, what are they if experienced alone, and not with a

good (awesome) friend?

Seriously,  it was soo perfect. Just to drive, talk and listen.  To forget.  No deadlines, for at least just a day. = D

I have a theory that certain mind patterns become associated with our surroundings,  and that sometimes we have to jump out, just so we can get out of the ruts we have created.  
And it was EPIC!!  
= D

1/26/10

No Clue at the Zoo

So, again, here I sit at my desk at work, chatting with my aunt, cause there ain't no customers.
I finish up with her, and then sit for awhile, just musing.

The phone rings.  The Uhaul line.

I answer.

A guy inquires into the availability of some dollies to move some furniture.  I explain nicely that actually I'm out of stock.  He mulls this over, and then moves on to truck rentals, inquiring into when a truck would be available this week.

"Probably either Wednesday or Thursday."  I explain.
"Ok, cool.  Would a tiger cage fit in it? Or a small elephant cage?"  He asks.

Silence.  I attempt to comprehend exactly what he's saying.

"I live right by the zoo,  and I'm moving to a farm.  I'm taking with me two of the tigers to take care of them for a bit,  and I will need a truck to transport them."

Again, I'm silent.  Then, in a somewhat skeptical tone of voice,  I repeat what he had just told me, and ask him to verify it.

"That's right.  Can a Uhaul truck carry a tiger?"

Finally, my mind is back on its feet.  Sort of.  I quickly explain that actually I was not able to authorize a truck rental for the transportation of a tiger at this location.  However,  if he called the Calgary Head Office,  he would be able to talk to someone with more standing.  I gave him the phone number, he thanked me, and hung up.

Wow.

Not only is that the most insane phone call I've ever had,  but I also am pretty sure it's against some type of animal welfare to transport wildlife in a uhaul truck.

And I didn't know the Zoo had an endangered species lending program either.

Oh . . .



You know when you thought you knew everything about everything?  That you had a handle on things?  It's always a bit surprising to find out that you don't.


But in a way, it helps you find you're way back to where you want to be. . .  That peace.  


Maybe I can find Neverland again. . .


Actually,  this song kinda says that to me.  I know it seems lame as far as the lyrics go.  But if you listen to the music, and the general gist and message,  it really actually is quite profound.  Or just lame.  It's up to interpretation.



Hungry

Layne: You're hungry?  You had breakfast!

Jesse: It was cold cereal.

Layne: It was mini wheats.

Jesse:  So?

Layne:  I haven't had anything since supper, and I'm not hungry.

Jesse :  Yeah, but you eat like a bird for some reason. . .

K.  Seriously, that made me laugh.  Especially cause of how 'Jesse' the wording was. . .

  

1/23/10

Huh?

So, I'm sitting here,  taking care of Uhaul, when a gas customer comes in.  She hands Charlie her mastercard.  It was burnt, and slightly warped.  She explained nicely that it actually might not work, and then went on to explain how the negative changes had happened.
"It got burnt in the microwave."

*blink*

She then explained that:
"See,  I wasn't supposed to use it, so I put it in the freezer. But then I had to get all the ice off it. . ."

*blink, blink* 

Just smile and nod . . . .
Those kind of people really scare me.

1/21/10

Something Beautiful

Sometimes we run into things that make us believe we'll never laugh again. And though this song would only tear me up inside more,  it also helped so much. Sometimes you have to reopen wounds so that they heal right .



And just cause everything may royally suck right now,  doesn't mean things don't get better. Cause there is always something beautiful.  There are mountains to reach the top of,  coasts to walk along,  friends to laugh with, cars to drive, music to listen to.

It gets better.  I promise.

1/19/10

Perdicament



This guy's in a wee bit of a perdikymint.




Sometimes I feel a bit like that too. . .

1/16/10

Neverland Lost

Dropped.  All contention, strife.

Beauty overwhelms.  Horns blend together, uplifting each other to greater feats of musical acrobatics. Arguing the case of nobility.

Forgotten. Worries and fears.

For a moment  in time, all is right.  More peace is wrapped in that single note than in a lifetime.

Memory . Faint, glimmering.  Our minds seem to flow around it, a stone in a rushing stream. Something vague.  Essential.

Our souls seem to rise with the glorious melody and accompaniment.  Our hair stands on end in concert with our souls.

Our life is now.  Not then , not later, but singularly in the infinite moment.  We know this place.  We have searched for it for so very long.

We don't know what it is.  Our minds worry at the memory, trying to dislodge it.  Some lose patience, dismiss it as irrelevant. They let themselves forget.

But some don't.

A question surfaces:  Have we forgotten how to fly?  To soar?

Maturity, reason, logic.  Perspective upon perspective, upon perspective pile themselves upon unaware shoulders.  Some accept foolishness, ignore them.  Others act with honour, observe them. Embrace them.  Then break as options and fears overwhelm them.

Yet as the music flows, part of us can remember what it felt to soar.  Can remember the whisper of the dream,  Part of us yearns for it back.

We are lost.

The way back is hidden.

Peace with wisdom; Neverland.

1/10/10

Erosion and Survival


THE storm approaches the coast in a rush of blackened violence.  The waves begin to dance, to rise and fall, rushing downwards again in a white flurry of agitation.  The rock waits; cooly, collected.  It has no fear; it is solid, unmoving.  Maybe too fearless, for the water strikes with a violence which the rocks have never before felt or seen.

Wave after leaping wave rise upwards and leap down, in a horrendous hiss of anger.  Like ancient green knights upon great white flowing steeds.  Leap, fall.  Their sharp swords glinting with lightning.  With thunderous crash upon thunderous crash, they maintain their campaign against logic.  The algorithms of Chaos, a vendeta of thought.  Yet logic halts their advances with a sheer wall of reason.

But patience is a virtue, and Chaos pushes its advantage of numbers.  Spray is thrown up and above the great rough terraces, soaking them with a fine mist that finds its way into the cracks and weaknessess. Its salt burns within the wounds, widening them slowly and surely.  The air reverberates with a deep bass thrumm as the assualt continues,  Chaos sensing the approach of the scent of victory.  Underneath the rising creshendo a plaintive cry swells, at first masked by the bass, but then clearly heard.  The sound of pain, of rock breaking, its structure collapsing under the continued impacts  and the insidous mists.

High up, a point crumbles like chalk and falls with a groan, plunging downwards and dispelling the  milling forces below it in a great rush.   The rock aches,  its outline changing as stress and continued pressure force it into new formations.   But even as the rock is changed, yet it stands steady,  its foundations rebutting all attempts that water devises.    And while the rock aches for what it was, and for what it has lost, the rock becomes aquainted with what it has become,  and becomes what it is aquainted with.

And still it defies the rushing waves.  And soon the storm passes, the water falls back in confused retreat to nurse their wounded pride and purpose.  And the rock stands.  It aches, but yet stays strong.  And light pierces the dark, and dries the sea from its form, and while the salt remains, it has no power.  And eventually, rain comes and washes it away.




This is life.  Your life and my life.  All of our lives.  Chaos threatens us again and again.  Life seems to rush over us and we have to pull ourselves up and out, gasping for breath.  And though we know that God is forming us, changing us,  we have a hard time making sense of it.  It hurts, a lot.  It makes no sense from our perspective generally.  The important thing to remember is that you need to keep your foundation, and accept the changes as they come.  (Unless they are really harmful to yourself, obviously. Like if you started smoking.  You shouldn't just say that you're accepting yourself.) See the flaws, ask God to work through them.  Know that what you've lost is important, and that it was part of you, but don't lose yourself along with it.

Recognize who you are now.  Cause who you were then is different.  And if you focus on who you were then, you won't notice how you've changed, and what needs work right now.

And if you've read this far, you're incredible and you can pat yourself on the back for your perseverance.


1/5/10

20(10)

Now I am twenty.

Now it is the tenth year into the millennium.

Life would appear to fly. . .  and with the end of the year it seems like the only thing we can really do is count milestones.  Question that we have to ask ourselves then, is what are the milestones?

Are the milestones our accomplishments in life?  Are they the little things that we do because we want to try it all before we die?   Or are the milestones more linear, less stratified.  Our spiritual health at the end of year?  How do you measure that really?  Are the milestones symbols of our relationships?  Of how we progress within them?  That would almost seem impossible.  Friendships grow, and others fade.  How do you chalk them up as successful or unsuccessful?  And really, is there such a thing as an unsuccessful friendship?

Those are the thoughts that really come to mind when I consider this last year of my life.

I can hope that I'm wiser, more mature, now that another year has gone by.   But really,  I've don't have any real good way of measuring that.  I feel like I've seen more,  so I've had more experiences,  but I'm not entirely sure how they have changed who I am.  

I'm confused.

Time needs to slow down, so I can find my feet again.

= ,  I guess this isn't the usual happy post about the last year.  But I couldn't write that right now for some reason.  I'll write it later.